Math anxiety partially mediates the relation between attention problems and both math outcomes¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Attention problems showed a direct positive path to math anxiety, which was in turn negatively related to WM, providing an additional attention-to-math pathway. → Wu 2017
Evidence¶
Wu 2017¶
Wu, S. S., Chen, L., Battista, C., Watts, A. K. S., Willcutt, E. G., & Menon, V. (2017). Distinct influences of affective and cognitive factors on children's non-verbal and verbal mathematical abilities. Cognition, 166, 118-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.016
q2 · i? · associational · r3
Exploratory SEM pathway in 330 children; the article describes this as an exploratory analysis and interprets anxiety as possibly attenuating attentional weakness via increased vigilance.
"We found that attention problems had a direct impact on math anxiety which was in turn was negatively correlated with WM, suggesting additional pathways through which attention may impact math achievement in the context of math anxiety."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Affect Regulation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Attention — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Related Claims¶
- In a cross-sectional model, attention problems relate to both non-verbal and verbal math performance only indirectly, through working memory (and, for MR, reading) — related
- Math anxiety has both a direct negative effect and a WM-mediated indirect effect on children's verbal Math Reasoning, but only an indirect effect on Numerical Operations — related
- Working memory fully mediates the effects of math anxiety and attention on children's non-verbal Numerical Operations — related
- Working memory mediates the indirect effects of anxiety on math performance — related
- Processing speed affects math achievement directly and both reading and math indirectly through working memory — related
- Math anxiety mediated the effect of gender on pretest monitoring judgments in exploratory analyses — related
- Math anxiety correlates weakly with working memory (r = −.18), and WM's mediating role between anxiety and math achievement is negligible — related
- Mathematics anxiety for learning is indirectly related to seventh-grade mathematics achievement through reduced in-class attention — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
math-anxiety-partially-mediates-attention-relation |
title |
Math anxiety partially mediates the relation between attention problems and both math outcomes |
description |
Math anxiety partially mediates the relation between attention problems and both math outcomes |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2017 |
source_checked |
2026-10-17 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — wu-2017 |
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